US Forest Service News, State Climate Wins & Losses, and EVs Are Winning In China

Welcome to The Climate Roundup newsletter. Your weekly edit of the climate and environmental stories shaping our planet and our culture and how the two are deeply connected. We live in a global ecosystem shaped by human decisions. Let’s make good ones.

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The Multi-Front Attack On Our National Forests

The recent announcement from the Trump administration to “reorganize” our country’s U.S. Forest Service seems to be breaking through the polluted airways and hitting a national nerve. Good. People love trees, and thank goodness for that shared sentiment. This love appears to be allowing many of us to see through the Department of Agriculture’s guise of a Forest Service reorg for what it is: a dismantling for business interests, not for the benefit of taxpayers. The public response has been so strong that the USDA felt the need to issue a rebuttal on their website. We’re not falling for it.

Our nation’s Forest Service has been around since 1905. Housed under the Department of Agriculture, it is responsible for 193M acres of forest and grassland, representing 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The original intention of the Forest Service was to maintain a lasting ecosystem for the enjoyment and responsible benefit of humans and wildlife alike. Though a “sustainable timber” practice was always part of the vision, the USFS has always been subject to the whims of the strain of politician who only sees dollar signs and the opportunity to dominate and deplete our country’s natural resources. Timbering, fossil fuel extraction, mining, and the construction of roads that go along with all those extractive activities are the everlooming dark forces rabid to raze what is left of our pristine public lands. Our Forest Service must manage these business interests and the shifting political mandates alongside the duty of maintaining the overall health and longevity of our forested lands.

Unfortunately, we have the most rabid of destroyers in the seat of the presidency, whose administration is working right now to revoke the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects 58M acres, or 30%, of our country’s remaining wilderness from any human development. Our wilderness is truly our last frontier. Last year, when Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, announced intent to revoke the Roadless Rule, over half a million citizens contributed public comments voicing their opposition, as did an array of interest groups from hunters to wildfire fighters to outdoor adventurers. Is anything sacred, we collectively ask?

Also early last year, this administration issued an executive order to mandate a 25% increase in timber production on federal land, followed by a USDA “emergency declaration” that the Forest Service allow fast-tracked logging within our protected forests, a determination that allows businesses to avoid the usual protocols for their plundering, including skirting environmental reviews.

These examples of bulldozing roads into existence and clear-cutting forests have long-term, negative effects, not only on the local ecosystems of wildlife in terms of disrupting their migration routes, habitats, and food sources, but also on the millions of Americans who rely on our intact forests for drinking water filtration and the sorely undervalued right to enjoy untouched nature.

As for the U.S. Forest Service “reorg”, many believe this is a clearcutting of obstacles (ie employees, scientists, research capabilities) in the way of extractive industry, and will allow these industries to more easily invade and pillage our public lands. The changes include relocating the USFS headquarters from D.C. to development-friendly Utah, shuttering all 9 regional offices, and eliminating 57 of 77 research facilities across the country. These offices represent a forest ecosystem of their own. Each location houses place-specific experts in forestry whose life’s work is to study and understand the nuances of forests and their ecosystems all across our diverse terrain. Scientists in forestry and ecology study how to prevent and manage wildfire, how forests and species populations can recover after devastation from fire, drought, and pests; they do water quality studies, trail management, and study how climate change is impacting all of it. All hugely important topics that require decades of study.

The impact of this Forest Service reorg remains to be seen. But if it follows in the footsteps of recent DOGE tactics (5,860 forest service jobs were lost last year) and previous federal office relocations and closures (87% of BLM employees left after the agency moved its HQ to another state during the last Trump term), it’s likely that many employees will leave, taking with them the knowledge, experience, and care our forests deserve.

Our public lands should be safe from extractive industries and self-interested politicians. So many people from our country’s history fought for years, even lifetimes, to secure the preservation and legally responsible management of our national treasures. They did it for us. We must continue the legacy of environmentalism. It is our right, our privilege, and our responsibility.

Philanthropy At Work:

🪿 ICYMI, this past week we announced a new nonprofit to the Gen E philanthropy platform: Climate Central. Their mission is to communicate climate change science, effects, and solutions to the public and decision-makers. Some of their most recent research looks at how climate change will impact our beloved birds, particularly the migratory ones. The world is on track for 3°C of warming by 2100, which is a year that kids alive today will see, so in other words, it’s not so far off. At this level of warming, two-thirds of North American birds will face significant range loss, and we may no longer see common birds, like American Robins and Red-headed Woodpeckers here in parts of the States. Take this as a reminder to appreciate even the common things in life. I’ll be sending some extra love to the everyday Robins in the park. it here.

Environmental News:

✊ We have to get deep in the weeds to find some good climate news these days, so let’s hear it for the people of Phoenix, Arizona, where clean energy caught a break and won the majority of seats on the state’s largest utility board, aka the room where it happens in terms of dirty vs clean energy policy decisions. This race for utility board seats attracted national attention and big spending from the far right (Turning Point) in their attempt to smear the Clean Energy Team (that’s literally what they called themselves). The Clean Team also had support from bigger groups, including Jane Fonda’s PAC. Voter turnout quadrupled from the previous election of its kind, and the Clean Energy Team won an 8-6 majority, meaning renewable energy choices will triumph in the region now. It’s also a case study in showing how yes, we can all make a difference. Voting and showing up matters.

🌲 Maine is the first state to pass a moratorium on new data center buildouts, effective through November 2027 and specifically for 20 watt and larger data centers. Bravo. They want to be smart and think things through first, instead of the usual knee-jerk reaction to cower to business interests. More state moratoriums are expected. Now, can we get a moratorium on AI business activity overall so that society as a whole can pause, think, and decide if we need or want this?

👩‍⚖️ A critical topic to watch is climate lawsuits. Federal and republican-led state governments are working to protect fossil fuel interests from climate lawsuits, while democratic-led states, environmental and citizen groups are pursuing various strategies that attempt to legally hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the climate damage they have caused and are causing, especially because they knew about the global harm their products caused, and hid it from the public. Well, Utah has now become the first state to pass a law that largely shields fossil fuel companies from any climate liability. The dirty energy industry is trying to follow in the footsteps of firearms, an industry that enjoys protection from being sued for its products being used to kill people. What a great system we’ve got here.

⏮️ A troubling trend is brewing among the once forward-thinking Democratic states of the northeast that passed climate laws to reduce emissions and progress clean energy and decarbonization initiatives across their states. These state governors are all looking at delaying and backtracking on the climate action their constituents voted for. Ironically, after democrats had shifted (pre-war) their weak and/or virtually non-existent climate messaging to one of affordability (because solar and wind are the cheapest energy sources), “affordability” is now the reason these states are preparing to back out of the necessary clean energy upgrades our communities, states, country, and planet so desperately need. It is short-sighted, it is cowardly, it is stupid, and it is damning to our health and our futures. If they want to ensure citizens aren’t going to experience higher bills to pay for some of these investments, fine, find another way to get the money. No excuses, get it done now, not tomorrow or in 25, 50, or 100 years. If you live in NY, please send an email to your representatives and Gov Hochul, who is leaning in to a plan that avoids carrying out our climate law.

🐧 Emperor Penguins have been moved to the endangered species list, managed by the IUCN. Their population decline is due to the rapid disappearance of sea ice in Antarctica, caused by climate change. Antarctic fur seals were also moved to the endangered list in this latest assessment.

🇮🇳 A new report finds that in India, solar and battery storage are now cheap enough that the country could meet 90% of its electricity needs at a lower lifetime cost than they’re paying for dirty power now.

🚙 Meanwhile in China, the future continues to move forward. People there can now buy a new electric compact SUV for $8,500. And in March, exports of EVs doubled, marking a record-breaking month for the country’s EV market.

Crescent Earth

👩‍🚀 NASA’s Artemis II splashed down into the Pacific Ocean on Friday night, marking the completion of a successful mission of 4 humans flying around the moon. Here are more photos of their lunar driveby, including the newly iconic Earthset image. I particularly like the photo I chose to include above. It’s wild to have that perspective. We see crescent moons all the time, but to see Earth like that…wow. My hope for the Artemis missions is that they make more people think about our planet in a deeper, connected way. We are all just living on a space rock, but damn is ours fine. How can we possibly treat it any other way than with the utmost love and respect? I hope this new perspective can shift some minds.